The data comes from a report by Prisma Medios de Pago on the third quarter. Plastic continues to be the favorite means of payment, but the financing period is becoming increasingly shorter. In turn, QR operations increased fivefold.
The climb inflationarywhich is already close to 140% year-on-year, has both an impact on the rise in interest rate for purchases in installments as in the cost of the refinancing of the balances. Reality reflects the need for consumers to modify their financing strategies. According to a private report accessed exclusively by Ámbito, Almost 60% of purchases registered with credit cards are made in a single payment.
The data arises from the survey “Payway Index”, carried out by the processor Prisma Medios de Pago. As the survey indicates, 58.37% of consumption recorded through credit cards in the third trimester of 2023 was made in a single installment. It follows as Second most chosen option, financing in 2 or 3 installments, although outside the Now 12 plan, with 51.89% in terms of consumption composition. Then, there are plans with 4 to 6 installments, with a representation of 33.65%, and plans with 7 to 12 installments, with 11.02%.
According to Julián Ballarino, Head of Institutional Relations, “credit card purchases in one payment are gaining ground in the total volume compared to the previous quarter” since “preference for short financing plans grows with credit card.”
Credit cards: financing becomes more expensive in November
In this context, starting next month credit card financing will become more expensive. The decision was regulated in the Official Gazette in Communication “A” 7862/2023, following double-digit inflation for the second consecutive month, 12.4% in August and 12.7% in September. Credit card refinancing will increase from 107% to 122% annual nominal (TNA), a percentage that applies to amounts less than $200,000 or $200. However, The Total Financial Cost (CFT), which will finally appear in the summary, will be around 302.8% approximately.
Pay the minimumrequest a cash advance or pay in installments outside the program Now 12 It will involve managing these numbers in the budget. For this last payment plan, the logic of short-term financing is extended, since Now 3 continues to be the most chosen option.
For the consumptions that exceed $200,000 or $200, The rate applied adheres to the regulation by the Credit Card Law. The interest applied may not exceed 25% of the rate that financial institutions apply to personal loans. That is why the CFT will depend on each bank, with financing being more expensive in private entities compared to public ones.
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In turn, the Payway Index recorded that the items that grew the most year-on-year in card transactions are Auto Parts and Motorcycles with 47%, Supermarkets with 15.24% and Restaurants with 14.71%.
In any case, operations with Debit They were not left behind and exhibited a year-on-year growth. In the third quarter, the private report indicates a year-on-year variation of 8.21% in credit card transactions, but also of 6.85% with debit cards. In fact, debit card purchases are close to 60% of the total volume operated by card, which marks the continuation of the trend of its use for payments.
At the same time, Ballarino also highlights that operations with QR grew in the last two quarters. “QR operations at Payway grew 5 times, among which account debit payments stand out, which grew 10 times,” highlights the Prisma member.
Source: Ambito
